Q&A with Ruben DaCollector

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

I don't have a favourite anything, much less comic art piece. However, my Tom Grummett & Mike Perkins art is what I enjoy the most.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I'm currently somewhere on the wrong side of 50, married, and have a 15 year old daughter. I've always been interested in the art of comics illustration, and my interests are strongest in mainstream Marvel and DC universe characters and stories. Over the years, as the values of comic art have skyrocketed and have made me feel that the art is no longer worth the money it takes to buy it, I've simply moved on to collecting art from artists, titles and eras that I still love and are still relatively "worth the money it takes to buy it". That is probably the greatest benefit I've gotten out of having such broad interests in characters, artists and titles, as it's the primary reason I've been able to avoid being "priced out" of the market as many collectors have been over the past 15+ years. As soon as whatever I'm collecting at any given moment reaches price values which I no longer find "worth it", I simply move on to something else.

How long have you been collecting comic art and what prompted you to start?

I bought my first piece of original art on 1991, the cover to PMIF #124 by Pollard/Layton, but I've been regularly collecting and dealing comic art since 1997. Like most people in the hobby, the primary thing that prompted me to start collecting and dealing was the advent of the world wide web, which showed me that there was a viable market in which to get involved.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

I keep everything in portfolios, mostly hand held presentation style, such as Itoya and HFP, but also some in carry case style. I do have dozens of pieces of art custom framed and hanging around the house as well, but those are all original painted covers from vintage paperback novels from the 1950's & 1960's, which I also collect and display in a separate CAF gallery listed under "Art, Rubén DaCollector's Paperback".

What are your top five most wanted original pages or commissions?

I don't have a top 5 list, but am always looking for covers & splashes drawn by Tom Grummett, especially from his New Titans, Superboy and Superman runs. Tom is an artist whose style I found to be something of a hybrid between Byrne and Pérez when he first burst onto the scene and his storytelling, figure work and overall draftsmanship are impeccable. So, if anyone out there has any of the work I'm looking for and don't want to risk the downside risk of auctions, please get in touch because I'm a buyer! I'm also happy to trade, if that's your preference. Happy Collecting to Everyone!